1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates primarily to the field of computer systems, and in particular to publishing and accessing platform configuration information.
2. Background Art
Network management implicates several concerns, including security (e.g., ensuring that the network is protected from unauthorized users), performance (e.g., eliminating bottlenecks in the network) and reliability (e.g., making sure the network is available to users and responding to hardware and software malfunctions). A system administrator may use a wide variety of software and hardware products to help manage a network. For example, conventional computer networks utilize system management and hardware diagnostic tools to manage the network or devices.
One example of a protocol for system management and hardware diagnostic tools is Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). Generally, SNMP operates by sending messages, called protocol data units (PDUs), to different parts of the computer network. SNMP-compliant devices, called agents, store data about themselves in Management Information Bases (MIBs) and return this data to the SNMP requesters. Each MIB is a database of objects that can be monitored by a network management system. Network management protocols, such as SNMP, use standardized MIB formats that allow any set of network management tools, e.g., SNMP tools, to monitor any device defined by a MIB. Accordingly, the characteristics or variables of an agent's MIB may be inspected or modified by a remote user.
Typically, conventional system management and hardware diagnostic tools may read the underlying platform configurations for reporting and monitoring purposes. For example, by employing an agent process on each of the managed hosts in a network, SNMP may collect and report the hardware platform configuration information to a central station. But one serious disadvantage is that the management and hardware diagnostic tools that monitor hardware platform configuration for purposes of reporting and monitoring do not function correctly if they are not informed about a change in hardware platform. As a result, the system administrator and user applications must update the tools by manually making several changes in various agent portions of the tools with every change in the hardware platform. The update process therefore requires a significant expenditure of time and other resources. Hardware platform changes occur frequently—existing hardware platforms are often upgraded with every new release of the platform or are replaced by new and different platforms. Thus, these tools have to be constantly updated. Accordingly, there is a need for a technique to handle upgrades or changes to platforms in a manner that saves time and other resources.